CHINA: Sympathy for Japan Drowns Out Historic Hate

Despite deep historic tensions between the two Asian powers, a surge of sympathy has emerged among Chinese toward victims of last week’s earthquake and resulting tsunami in northern Japan, which has left an estimated 10,000 dead or missing.

Libya Declares Immediate Ceasefire

Libya's government has announced it will halt all military operations in the country hours after the United Nations Security Council backed a no-fly zone over the country.

POLITICS-ZAMBIA: Days of Male Domination Numbered

Elizabeth Phiri was so incensed when she was overlooked as a parliamentary candidate for the Patriotic Front in a 2008 by-election on the basis of her gender that she quit the party. Four years on, she has rejoined the party but remains pessimistic - but other women politicians see reasons to hope the 2011 elections will be different.

AFRICA: Anxious Eyes on Green Climate Fund

The African Development Bank says it is concerned about administrative delays holding up progress on the Green Climate Fund - one of the most significant achievements from the Cancún climate talks.

‘Buy Gaza’ Movement Gains Momentum

Palestinians are calling for boycotts against Israeli products and companies. But in the Gaza Strip -- at the heart of the Israeli occupation -- it is often impossible for residents to follow their own call to action.

Malawi Donor Funding Threatened by Rights, Governance Issues

Malawi is bracing itself for difficult economic times following a decision by the country’s main donors to withhold financial aid amounting to $400 million. Donors say they are responding to a range of governance and human rights issues in the country.

U.S. Congress Weighs Aid Package to Post-Mubarak Egypt

As Egypt braces for Saturday's vote on constitutional amendments in its first referendum since the revolution, lawmakers here are seeking to address the North African country's economic situation in addition to immediate political developments, by introducing legislation that seeks to stimulate foreign direct investment (FDI).

U.N. Body Authorises Military Intervention in Libya

As Libyan leader Muammar el-Gaddafi's fighter planes and helicopters continue to mercilessly pound civilians and rebel groups inside Libya, the U.N.'s most powerful political body voted to militarily intervene in the besieged North African country in an attempt to prevent and neutralise the attacks.

HAITI: Aristide Returns Ahead of Controversial Run-Off

Tensions are running high in Haiti as dueling campaigns for the presidency enter overdrive in their final days, and Jean- Bertrand Aristide, a popular former president, returns from a seven-year exile in South Africa.

BRAZIL-US: Obama Promises “Equal Partnership”

The United States says its relations with Latin America must be "an equal partnership" - a new vision or, at least, a new discourse that will have a chance to take more concrete shape during U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Brazil this weekend.

TAIWAN: Public Demands Safety Review of New Reactor

The unfolding disaster at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant has reignited debate over Taiwan’s own nuclear power programme and the controversy over continuing construction of a fourth nuclear facility here.

CAMBODIA: Botched World Bank Project Leads to Thousands of Evictions

The World Bank botched the handling of an ambitious multi-million-dollar land- titling project in Cambodia and has done little to protect thousands of people in a lakeside slum from eviction.

Palestinian Protests Mark ‘March 15 Day of Rage’

Tens of thousands of Palestinians from across the political spectrum took to the streets throughout the West Bank and Gaza on Tuesday to mark 'March 15, the day of rage' to protest the political division between Hamas and Fatah.

U.N. Reported Only a Fraction of Civilian Deaths from U.S. Raids

The number of civilians killed in U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) raids last year was probably several times higher than the figure of 80 people cited in the U.N. report on civilian casualties in Afghanistan published last week, an IPS investigation has revealed.

JAPAN: Food and Gasoline Shortages Plague Nuclear Exclusion Zone

For the past three days Hiroko Oogusa, 62 - following orders from the local authorities - has remained in her tightly shuttered home located 40 kilometres from the badly damaged Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima.

Japan’s Nuclear Nightmare Triggers Fears in France

Until the nuclear crisis started unfolding in Japan last week, most French citizens did not doubt that the country's 58 nuclear reactors were safe enough to continue operating for scores of years to come.

Military Intervention in Libya May Already Be Irrelevant

As the White House and its partners in the international community inch closer to a decision over military action in Libya, while Muammar Gaddafi's forces advance steadily into rebel-controlled territory, some analysts argue that the intervention debate is nearing irrelevance after raging unabated for almost a month.

Baltic States Faulted for Discriminating Against Minorities

A large ethnic Russian minority population in Latvia and Estonia, which joined the European Union (EU) along with Lithuania in 2004, has repeatedly complained of discrimination and denial of political and social rights by the three Baltic governments.

U.S.-LATAM: Obama to Stress the Positive, Show Respect

On the eve of President Barack Obama's first-ever visit to South America, administration officials and independent analysts say that the emphasis throughout his five-day trip will be very much on the positive aspects and possibilities of U.S.-Latin American relations.

COLOMBIA: Return of Land to Displaced Farmers Picks Up Steam

"Wholesale land titling" Colombia's Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Juan Camilo Restrepo announced Tuesday, adding that titles would no longer only be handed over to individuals who file land claims, but to entire groups of people in specific rural areas.

BANGLADESH-LIBYA: Garment Industry Pledges to Employ Evacuated Labourers

Bangladesh's garment factories and overseas recruiting agencies have pledged to employ a substantial number of Bangladeshi expatriates returning from politically volatile Libya, following the violent crackdown on opposition forces by Muammar Gaddafi's regime there.